Consistent Progression From GB3 Rookie Browne At Oulton Park
Hillspeed’s GB3 Championship rookie Jonathan Browne secured a pair of strong ninth place results at Oulton Park International Circuit in Cheshire over the weekend, 11th/12th September, during only his second race meeting in the UK’s premier single-seater category.
Fresh from a remarkable and headline-grabbing podium finish on his GB3 debut at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit last month, the 21-year-old Irishman worked hard at Oulton’s challenging 2.69-mile track to deliver three competitive race finishes for the Markham Vale team.
Starting off with a top 12 result in the opening encounter on Saturday, Browne was ninth in a somewhat chaotic and incident-packed race two on Sunday and added another ninth position in a rain-hit third contest, his first fully wet running in GB3, having challenged for the podium early on.
After two days of testing pre-event in changeable conditions, Browne delivered a best time of 1m32.329 seconds in qualifying on Saturday to secure 14th on the grid for race one. Just 0.3 seconds shy of the top 10, his pace was actually a match for the top six in the first and third sectors.
Race one began without incident and Browne maintained his grid placing, running roughly half a second behind Frederick Lubin. Slipping around a second shy by lap four, the County Meath driver continued to pick up his pace and gradually closed to within 0.7 seconds midway through.
On lap 11 Browne made the breakthrough to take 13th from Lubin, where he stayed to the chequered flag on lap 13. Post-race, though, Luke Browning was disqualified from the results due to a technical infringement and so Browne was elevated into the top 12 in the amended result.
Starting 14th on the grid again for the first of Sunday’s races, Browne ran as part of a close three car battle into the second tour with Branden Oxley and Sebastian Alvarez. On lap five, a spin for Oxley at Knickerbrook meant Browne needed lightning reactions and he swiftly lifted off the throttle.
Taking impressive avoiding action, the loss of momentum meant rather than gain a place Browne stayed 14th as Bryce Aron was able to carry more speed up Clay Hill. More drama came on lap eight when Alvarez crashed out at Hislops after contact, Browne moving into 13th as a result, and at Cascades on lap nine an excursion for Javier Sagrera elevated the Hillspeed man into the top 12.
That wasn’t the end of the chaos. Champion-elect Zak O’Sullivan speared off into the tyre barrier, again at Hislops, while challenging for the lead on lap 10. Incredibly, Roberto Faria and Browning then touched out of Old Hall at the start of lap 12 – eliminating Faria. After all of that, the race was red flagged and the declared result at the end of lap 10 put Browne in ninth place.
Rain arrived ahead of race three, the ‘reversed grid’ contest, and Browne lined-up on the second row in third position. With a very slippery track and lots of spray, all drivers ran wet-weather Pirelli rubber and when the lights went out Browne launched well. Passing Aron on the run to Old Hall, a very fast-starting Roman Bilinski leapt past both so Browne still held third into the first turn.
Looking to challenge Mikkel Grundtvig around the outside at Shell Oils Hairpin, as the rain continued to fall, Browne had to think better of it and tuck back in. On lap three, though, his realistic podium bid went awry when an unfortunate spin at Hislops dropped the Hillspeed car back to 11th position.
Determined to try and recover, Browne focused hard in the ultra-difficult conditions and by lap five he was back inside the top 10 in ninth place. With a gap of around 2.5 seconds to the next group, he continued to improve his pace – his first ever fully wet running in the series of course – and closed to within just 0.5 seconds of the top eight at the chequered flag on lap 12.
Richard Ollerenshaw – Hillspeed Team Principal:
“We’re very pleased with the progress Jonathan made this weekend, especially in race three which was his first proper wet running in the car and the championship. Although we’ve had some damp track time, he’s never driven in the full-on wet before and did a very good job. It was quite apparent from Jonathan’s lap times in the race he was continually progressing strongly with every lap.
“Racing against drivers who have been competing in the championship for three quarters of a season, with lots of testing, and to end the weekend with the seventh fastest lap overall shows the great potential Jonathan has on only his second weekend. The changeable weather in testing before the weekend spoiled our preparation plans but, in the end, I think we can all be very satisfied.”
The final three races of the GB3 Championship season will be contested over the weekend 16th/17th October at Hillspeed’s home track, Donington Park in the East Midlands.
